


Days Off

by cold_nights_summer_days



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Days Off, Fluff, I dont know how to tag, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, World War II, cant you tell?, cuteness, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 03:05:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18842344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cold_nights_summer_days/pseuds/cold_nights_summer_days
Summary: During the war, the commandos have a break in between HYDRA raids. Bucky forces Steve to take a rest, because everyone knows that Steve Rogers does not know how to take care of himself.--------“Let’s take the day off.” Bucky said. Steve looked up at him with a wistful expression.“I wish we could, but-“Steve started, but Bucky cut him off.“No buts. The closest base is another two hundred miles from here and we couldn’t fly out until tomorrow afternoon anyways. So, let’s take a break and relax for once.” Bucky used his best puppy dog eyes, the ones he knew Steve couldn’t resist.





	Days Off

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bucket_1917](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bucket_1917/gifts).



> Hi! Enjoy this short little thing, its unedited so if there are any mistakes, please tell me! Comments and criticism are always welcome. I wrote this ages ago for @Bucket_1917 , so thank you to her for inspiring me.

“We get any coffee in the shipment? After the night we had last night I could sure use some.” Morita asked, voice groggy. The Commandos had stormed yet another HYDRA base last night, and it was a long fight. Those dumb HYDRA goons just kept coming, one right after another. For a moment Bucky wondered if their damned slogan was true. Last night it certainly was, at least. Every time they cut one down two more appeared, keeping the fight going well into the night. It couldn’t have been but a few hours before dawn when they finally made it back to camp. Even then, it was so cold that most of them spent nearly an hour by the fire trying to warm up again. 

“Maybe. Check the boxes over there.” Dum Dum answered, motioning to a large pile of still-unopened boxes close to the tent that served as their mess hall. A fire was already burning in the center of camp, though not very strongly. The wood had been soaked with snow when Dum Dum had brought it back for the fire, but they didn’t have anything else to burn. A couple of the guys made comments about how they had to practically stand in the fire to feel any of its warmth, but they were still thankful it was burning at all. 

In another corner of the camp, Steve and Bucky were in the command tent, already thinking about the next, though sadly not the last, base they were going to set their sights on. There were a few maps spread across the table off to the side, all labeled with the front and the bases they still had left to destroy. There were too many red dots on that map in everybody’s opinion. 

“What day is it?” Bucky asked absently. Nobody really kept up with the days of the week out here. They all sort of blended together, anyways. Saturdays felt like Wednesdays felt like Mondays. Steve dug the calendar out from the pile of maps and references and glanced at it briefly. 

“Its Sunday.” Steve answered, marking the map where they had just taken another HYDRA base. 

“Let’s take the day off.” Bucky said. Steve looked up at him with a wistful expression. It had been so long since any of them had a proper rest. Most nights were spent in uncomfortable bedrolls or in tight foxholes.  
Although Steve and Bucky didn’t much mind the latter because it gave them a reason to be unusually close. 

“I wish we could, but-“Steve started, but Bucky cut him off.

“No buts. The closest base is another two hundred miles from here and we couldn’t fly out until tomorrow afternoon anyways. We ain't got nothin’ else to do today. So, let’s take a break and relax for once.” Bucky used his best puppy dog eyes, the ones he knew Steve couldn’t resist. Maybe that wasn’t fair, but Bucky just wanted one day not spent trudging through forests, sitting in foxholes, and shooting people. Was that really such a bad thing? 

“Okay.” Steve sighed. He set down the pencil he’d been marking the map with and leaned back in his chair. He smiled tiredly. It had been weeks since he’d gotten a good sleep. Steve always took first night watch, and often let people sleep past switch time, claiming he didn’t need that much sleep. Maybe that was true, but he certainly couldn’t stay awake forever. He had almost permanent dark circles under his eyes and had recently been finding himself falling asleep on recon missions and stakeouts. 

“You can’t stay awake forever.” Bucky said, acknowledging Steve’s barely suppressed yawn. “You’ve been taking first watch for weeks. How about you go sleep some, and I’ll tell everyone we’re taking the day off, huh?” Steve didn’t even try to argue, and that’s how Bucky knew just how tired he was. Steve always had something to say about everything.

“Okay. Wake me up for lunch, though. And try not to get into too much trouble.” Steve said. Bucky had a look of mock innocence. 

“Me? Trouble? Never.” He said dramatically. Steve shook his head. 

“Jerk.” Steve laughed. 

“Punk.” Bucky answered, pulling him in for a quick hug, and missing Steve’s warmth when he pulled away. 

They both went their separate ways after leaving the command tent, Steve toward his tent and Bucky towards the circle huddled around the fire holding military-issue mugs. 

“We actually got coffee this time around?” Bucky asked incredulously, moving towards the table to grab a mug for himself before finally joining the group around the still-puny fire. 

“Yeah. Great, huh? Thought we’d never see another damned cup of it until this morning.” Dum Dum replied, punctuating his sentence with a long drink from his own mug. Thank god it wasn’t windy outside, or Bucky was sure it would blow the tiny fire right out.

“So, Sarge, what’s the plan for today? When we heading out?” Morita asked a few minutes later when his cup is finally drained, leaving him feeling much more awake than earlier. All the men’s’ faces lit up like Christmas trees when they were informed that they would actually be taking the day off. In fact, most of them decided to take Steve’s example and try to sleep. Soon it was only Bucky and Falsworth left standing by the fire. Falsworth insisted that Bucky go try to catch some shut-eye too. Apparently, the dark circles were a lot more noticeable than Bucky had originally thought. He didn’t bother trying to argue with Falsworth, glad that he had suggested it. When Bucky was sure that Falsworth wasn’t looking, he slipped into Steve’s tent instead. 

Bucky silently laid down next to Steve, who didn’t even stir until Bucky pulled him close, for warmth and comfort. 

“Don’t worry. Its just me.” Bucky said quietly, though he wasn’t quite sure Steve heard him because he already seemed to be asleep again. These last few weeks really had done a number on his energy levels, especially the long and difficult battle last night. 

Normally, Bucky was tired right up until the moment he laid down to go to sleep, and today was no exception. Usually it was because he was afraid of the night terrors, or that HYDRA was going to storm their camp in the dead of night. Bucky had to remind himself that there were no HYDRA agents left in this area now, thanks to last night, and that it was the middle of the day and if anything happened Falsworth would wake him and the rest of the Commandos. 

It wasn’t either of those things, though. Recently, Bucky had been feeling guilty about a lot of things, though one thing more than the other in the last dew days. As much as he hated the idea of Steve being involved in this damn war at all, he was glad that he had him here. That he didn’t have to do this thing alone, without the person who understood him most in the world. Bucky knew it was selfish, but he still couldn’t quite bring himself to care. He knew that Steve would be there for him every step of the way, during the war and when (not if, there was no room for ifs) they got home and vice versa. It was okay, Bucky thought, to be happy where you are but still wish you got there differently. 

And with that final though, Bucky let himself slip into a peaceful, dreamless sleep for the first time in weeks.


End file.
